Screen Light at Midnight

Something measurable began to break in Western adolescence around 2012. From 2009 to 2017, rates of depression among teenagers aged 14 to 17 in the United States jumped more than 60%, and emergency-room visits for self-harm and suicidal ideation in this age group rose sharply alongside that curve. The year 2012 was not arbitrary — it marked the moment when smartphone ownership among American teena...